They'll run with the added weight of their uniforms, fully loaded and duty-ready Sam Browne belts and boots

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LAPD officers Joe Cirrito, third from left, and Kristina Tudor, right, run in the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon.

Los Angeles police officers Joe Cirrito and Kristina Tudor know that running 420 miles to Sacramento over 12 days is going to be an exercise in agony, but they're doing it for the greater good — raising money for the families of officers killed in the line of duty.

The officers began their journey Nov. 27 at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park. They're running with the added weight of their uniforms, fully loaded and duty-ready Sam Browne belts and boots that, Tudor said, "feel like anchors tied to your feet."

"We're going into the unknown," said Tudor, 30, who at a diminutive 5 feet 3 inches tall is an ultramarathon runner and one of about 10 women on the LAPD's elite Metropolitan Division. "There are definitely things we're going to be learning about ourselves that we probably didn't even know existed."

Cirrito, who is 47 years old and 5 feet 11 inches, joked that this run is his midlife crisis. A sprinter in college who hated distance, Cirrito has been running 80 miles a week in his uniform before his shift at 2 a.m. to get ready. The former teacher and college football player from New York has been psyching himself up by watching "Rocky" movies and listening to AC/DC.

LAPD Officers Running From LA to Sacramento Cover 330 Miles

Two LAPD officers are running 420 miles from Los Angeles to Sacramento to raise money for the families of officers killed in the line of duty. They began the run on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. A week into their journey on Dec. 4, 2016, the pair had covered 330 miles. (Published Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016)

"It's a huge motivator for me," he said.

They'll alternate running 20-mile legs, while the other rests and rehydrates in a recreational vehicle that will pace them north on State Route 33. They'll have foods full of proteins and carbs — salmon and chicken for Cirrito — as well as Gatorade, soda and water. Rotating support teams will handle security, social media updates and logistics in utility vans that will leap frog along the route.

Cirrito, a senior lead officer at the LAPD's Olympic Division, was inspired by his friend, Dominick Pezzulo, a former high school shop teacher who became a New York/New Jersey Port Authority officer in 2000. Pezzulo had been on the job one year when he was among the more than 70 officers killed when terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

It's been 16 years, but Cirrito still cries when talking about his friend.

Cops Run 400 Miles in Honor of Slain Officers

LAPD officers Joe Cirrito and Kristina Tudor will run in uniform hundreds of miles to honor officers killed in the line of duty. They began Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (Published Monday, Nov. 28, 2016)

"I can't watch anything that deals with 9/11 without tearing up," he said. "I feel that it's also a driving force for me because he became my hero."

He'll stream music on his phone to keep him motivated through the run.

"This is an honor for me," he said. "This has been a very tough year for law enforcement. The biggest thing about why I enjoy running in uniform is I get to talk to people. It's so important that people understand that we're human."